When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, its a good core workout. If youre sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More

Many of us remember coming home from our elementary schools with freshly glazed pinchpots, cups, or whatever else our young imaginations could conjure up. Saturday mornings at the Randall Museum can bring that memory back, or create a new one for the youngsters. Ceramics make great gifts — especially on Mothers' and Fathers' Day. Hop on board for the Randall's once-weekly class, and for $6 and two weeks to have your work fired and glazed, you'll have all the materials you need.More

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Every August, we (the Earth) pass through the debris left by our old friend Comet 109P, aka Comet Swift-Tunnel, resulting in the Perseid meteor shower. This year, these beautiful paths of light will be brightest from August 11-13, peaking on Saturday night. Date night! However, star gazing isn't so simple for us cityfolk, so here are some tips for an ace visual experience, with help from NASA and the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland.

How to watch a meteor shower:

Get away from it all

Unfortunately, San Francisco makes too many of its own pretty lights for us to be able to see much of the show, so stargazers will have to head outside the city to darker, more remote areas to be able to see the expected 80 meteors an hour. For the best visibility, go high: Mount Diablo, Sonoma, the Santa Cruz Mountains, or the Lick Observatory at Mount Hamilton are ideal. Briones Regional Park in the East Bay also has fairly good visibility that's a bit closer.

Turn on your night vision

A mountain can turn into a Cinedome once you let your eyes adjust accordingly for your own viewing pleasure. This means relax your eyes, allow them at least 30 minutes of blissful, uninterrupted droopy-eyed staring at the sky, and avoid looking at your cell phone. If you must look at something back down on Earth, use a red light. (Use your mutual night vision to look into your date's eyes a couple times or something too, he or she'd probably like that.) To fully recognize a slew of shooting stars also takes some patient viewing. If you lay back and keep looking up without looking at one specific spot or for one specific movement, your eyes will be more likely to notice more meteors.

Make sure the moon's in check

Bright, expansive moonlight basically has the same effect on visibility as the city's light pollution. Fortunately, this Saturday's moon phase will be a waning crescent that won't rise until early morning, so it shouldn't interfere too much.

This is the peak weekend for the rapid-fire sky show, but you can also catch some Perseid meteors every night until around August 22nd. Watch NASA's sky watching guide for last year's Perseid meteor shower below!

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Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"